Meanwhile, when the promo starts airing on PBS stations, I suspect that viewer response from the 75-year-old PBS hardcores will not be on the relevant content of the program, but the fact that a Rhianna song was used in the promo. I can just see the cries of "continued dumbing down."
Mark Jeffries Saints Spotlight Editor [email protected] On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 10:23 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > TVNEWSER summarizes the latest developments on this story: > http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/espn-ombudsman-trailer-for-frontline-doc-a-catalyst-for-channel-dropping-out_b193276 > > The heart is yesterday's report from ESPN ombudsman Robert Lipsyte: > > > http://espn.go.com/blog/ombudsman/post/_/id/96/was-espn-sloppy-naive-or-compromised > > John Skipper (ESPN President) says the trailer for the documentary was the > catalyst. "He found it to be 'sensational.' He particularly objected to the > tagline — “Get ready to change the way you see the game” — and to the final > sound bite in the piece, from neuropathologist Ann McKee. Referring to > brain injuries, she says, 'I’m really wondering if every single football > player doesn’t have this.' Skipper said he found that comment to be “over > the top.” > > The trailer can be seen at the tvnewser site. I am a longtime NFL fan - I > can count on the fingers of both hands the sundays since I am 8 years old > that I have not seen at least one complete football game (excluding my > years in college and grad school) - and probably 90% of those weekends I > have seen 2 or 3 games on Sunday and the Monday night game. But I am also a > psychologist, and for more than a decade I have been deeply troubled by the > emerging evidence on the widespread and profound long term neurological > damage that an NFL career does to the average player (one of my former > students who became a neuropsychologist consulted for an NFL team I will > not name here on some of the work on this early in this century). I think > the tagline for this documentary is if anything restrained - many fans may > need to get ready to reconsider whether they can in good conscience > continue to support this league by watching games at all. When I hear > retired jocks and coaches on NFL telecasts bitching about the half-assed > rules the NFL has put in place to try to reduce the violent head-on > collusions in the sport it makes me ill. I can not think of a single other > industry in which US society would tolerate the kind of damage that playing > professional football routinely inflicts on its employees. And the league > generates so much wealth for its owners and corporate partners, and is so > stingy with its compensation for the bulk of its players (take out the > elite 10% to 20%, and most NFL players have very short careers, with > contracts that are not guaranteed). > > I am troubled by the fact that Skipper found the promo to be sensational > and over the top, but does not comment directly on whether it is supported > by the evidence that will be presented in the documentary and subsequent > book. > > Lipsyte: "This is a dicey time for the journalism side of the ESPN > bifurcation. For all the current fuss, an even stronger message than ESPN’s > disassociation from the “Frontline” project was the network’s recent > decision to reschedule the Sunday morning OTL show from 9 a.m. on ESPN to 8 > a.m. on ESPN 2 during the fall. A justifiably proud show is being demoted … > for more football talk!" > > > > > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
